Chapter 1323 Ascending Heavenly Stairs, Hard To Travel, Saint Appears!
One day passed in the Nine Provinces, but seven years had passed on the tortoise shell!
Sun Mo and the other four didn’t say a single word as they continued to progress toward the mountain peak at steady speed.
When they looked upward from this world, it was like a stretch of steep marble steps that was one-meter in width, leading all the way to the depths of the clouds.
In the first seven years, both sides of the steps were just bare mountain slopes, but from the eighth year onward, it went through the sky.
It was truly deserving of the name heavenly stairs!
This was the 15th year.
Sun Mo panted heavily and stopped in his tracks, looking down.
Other than the blue sky and flowing clouds, the ground could no longer be seen.
“I can’t take it anymore. If I continue, I’m going to die!”
Gao Ning rested his hands on his knees and panted heavily. He then looked at Sun Mo. “I really envy your body!”
“Teacher Sun is the youngest. You’ve really gotten the advantage in this round!”
Fang Hong felt a little resentful.
On this stretch of heavenly stairs, anyone’s spirit qi and great teacher halos would be taken away from them. It was a pure competition of body and will.
This was like running a marathon. Naturally, the younger one was, the more advantageous it would be for them.
“You can’t say that. Who told us to be old?”
Du Changgong laughed self-deprecatingly and looked at Secondary Saint Zhou who was walking in front. “Hurry up. That guy is going to shake us off!”
“He must have been holding back his anger, wanting to defeat Teacher Sun!”
Fang Hong teased.
After everyone entered this world, they subconsciously walked together. No one wanted to explore the way first to avoid making any missteps. However, 15 years had passed and everyone had figured out the content of the test.
The five of them were hungry and tired now, but they wouldn’t starve to death or die from exhaustion. Such torment on the body felt like maggots clinging to their bones, making people feel extremely uncomfortable.
“I’m a secondary saint, why do I have to go through this?”
Gao Ning was a little upset.
(Wouldn’t it be enjoyable if I were to stay in my mansion, being served watermelon by maids while I read novels? If I’m bored, I can just have s*x with my concubines with unparalleled beauty, alright?)
Gao Ning, who had long since gotten used to having a lot of power, found it extremely unbearable to suddenly become like an ordinary person
Blisters had appeared on the soles of his feet. They would burst, and then new ones would grow out. Hence, his soles were like a slab of metal, making it almost impossible for blades to pierce through them anymore.
“That’s why rich people like you can’t take any bit of hardship! You only rely on the backing of your clan!”
Du Changgong sneered.
He had taken off his great teacher attire and was just wearing a pair of pants made from coarse cloth. Also, his pants were rolled up to his calves and he continued to walk on firmly.
“Heh!”
Gao Ning pretended to look helpless. “I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. What can I do about that? I can’t possibly go to live in a poor family by myself, right? Everyone is raised by their parents. Is it wrong for me to be lucky?”
Gao Ning looked down on Du Changgong’s attitude the most. It was as if one came from an elite family and made achievements thereafter, their family background would be like a dark history and they weren’t worth respecting
“Hmph!”
Du Changgong let out a cold snort. “But I’m standing here and competing on the same stage as you. This shows that you’re trash!”
“Please, how many people like you are there?”
Gao Ning smiled magnanimously. “I admit that I’m inferior to you. So what?”
Gao Ning’s expression made Du Changgong, who was about to ‘argue’, feel deflated.
“You guys are all secondary saints, so why are you still conflicted about backgrounds?”
Fang Hong was speechless.
“After I become the sect lord, I’ll definitely suppress the wealthy clans and give the benefits to those poor people!”
Du Changgong said fiercely and quickened his pace.
This was the core driving force for him to become the sect lord.
“Crazy!”
Gao Ning scolded and then turned back for a few looks. He sighed. “If it wasn’t because there are many people watching, I’d have given up long ago.”
“Only two days have passed in the real world. If you don’t give up now, you’ll have to go through a lot more!”
Fang Hong sneered.
“Forget it, I’ll continue!”
Gao Ning was someone who cared for his face, so he found it too embarrassing to shrink back from this competition.
However, after five days passed, which was 35 years in here, Gao Ning couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m not walking anymore! I won’t be moving from this spot!”
Gao Ning sat down on his butt. “This isn’t something humans can do!”
He was now very skinny and hungry that only skin and bones were left of him. Moreover, he was aching all over. Each step he took made him feel like countless metal blades were piercing all over his body.
After taking a look at him, Sun Mo and Fang Hong didn’t say anything but continued advancing
“Xu Chunbo, let me out!”
Gao Ning, who was seated on the steps, bellowed. Thereafter, his vision blurred and he appeared in the hall.
“F*ck!”
Gao Ning’s figure swayed intensely and he fell on the floor, landing on his butt.
“Teacher!”
His disciples were all given a scare.
“As expected of the heavenly stairs, taking each step is like going through a brutal torture.”
Gao Ning felt very regretful. “I have no hopes of advancing to become a saint in this lifetime!”
Thankfully, Gao Ning knew his limit long ago. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come to contend for the sect lord position. Therefore, it was just a feeling of regret and not despair.
Everyone was astonished.
How brutal was this round to let a secondary saint give up?
Someone said that Gao Ning’s will wasn’t strong? That he had a lazy character?
No one would believe that. After all, people who could ascend to the secondary saint realm were all cream of the crop, so they could only say that ascending the heavenly stairs was really too difficult.
40 years passed by.
Sun Mo and Fang Hong were still walking alongside each other.
“Secondary Saint Zhou is bent on winning this round. Is it really alright for you to go so slowly?”
Fang Hong felt curious. If it wasn’t because she had grown old, she’d have suspected that the reason Sun Mo followed her was because he had ill designs.
“It doesn’t matter!”
Sun Mo chuckled. His performance was extremely good in the first three rounds. Even if Secondary Saint Zhou were to get first place once, it wouldn’t affect the final results too much. Moreover, judging from Xu Chunbo’s words, there’d be at least one or two more rounds later on, so he might as well conserve his energy.
“But Teacher Fang, why are you trying so hard?”
Sun Mo was very curious. The Nine Provinces was a world where men were superior to women, so it was already an amazing achievement for Fang Hong to become a secondary saint. No one had expectations that she’d become a saint.
“It’s precisely because of this attitude you guys have!”
Fang Hong sneered. “I want to show the world that we women can do it too. We can be sect lords and saints. There’s nothing we cannot do.”
IIII
Sun Mo had accidentally rammed his toes into a steel board. He quickly shut up.
“I have a great-granddaughter who’s 18 years old and as beautiful as a flower…”
Fang Hong didn’t blame Sun Mo for looking down on women. After all, he was an outstanding man and had the right to look down on anyone, so it was better for her to propose a political marriage.
“I’m already 40!”
Sun Mo laughed self-deprecatingly. He wondered how badly he would be scolded if he were to marry a young girl who was three cycles[1] younger than he was.
“True love has nothing to do with age!”
Fang Hong argued.
The key was that there was no true love either!
However, Sun Mo did not dare to rebut her. When he saw that Fang Hong was starting to introduce her great-granddaughter, he quickened his pace.
The two of them walked for another half a year. On the steps, they saw Du Changgong sitting down. He had his hands on his cheeks and looked dejected.
“Teacher Du!”
Sun Mo was just about to greet him when Fang Hong stopped him.
“Don’t disturb him. Let him have some quiet time to himself!”
Fang Hong sighed. “He came from a poor family and has always been very eager to excel in his life, wanting to get first place in everything. He must be extremely upset to forfeit now.”
The fact was that Fang Hong was also clenching her teeth and hanging on with her unwillingness to lose.
Sun Mo and Fang Hong passed by Du Changgong. Du Changgong didn’t show any reaction.
(I’ve lost!)
He wanted to keep on climbing, but there was a limit to one’s strength. He was too old. Moreover, in his younger days, he had to put in several tens more times more hard work to catch up to the geniuses from well-established clans. Therefore, his body had been worn out.
(My useless legs!)
Du Changgong hammered his kneecap hard and then lay down on the steps.
(I can’t be a sect lord nor can I be a saint anymore!)
(As expected, children from poor families shouldn’t have dreams!)
Du Changgong lay on the floor and looked at the flowing clouds in the sky, feeling deep disgust toward himself. He had given up. However, at this moment, a bold and confident male voice rang out from the top of the mountain.
“A serving of spirit in a golden chalice has a price of ten thousand pence, and ten times more for delicacies dished out on a platter made of jade! [2]
“Yet in the face of such a feast I could not bring myself to taste, with wrath I drew my sword and I looked around, feeling completely at a loss! [2]”
Du Changgong’s ears perked up. The man’s voice didn’t sound very pleasant, but the lines from the poem were extremely good.
This was especially the line ‘There shall come a day with gusty winds to help cleave through the waves, for me to make full sail and an open boundless sea navigate.’ It made Du Changgong shoot up to his feet out of reflex and let out a cheer.
“Great poem!”
Fang Hong praised. “Other than being a Dual-Sage in Calligraphy and Painting, you should also have the great reputation of being Nine Provinces Poetry Sage!”
“Teacher Fang is too kind with your praise. I heard this from elsewhere!”
Sun Mo said humbly.
Fang Hong smiled and didn’t continue this topic. Instead, she turned to look back down. “You admire Du Changgong?” “Every one who puts in hard work deserves respect and admiration!”
Sun Mo smiled. “If possible, I hope that he can fight to the very end!”
It could be said that Du Changgong, who came from a poor background was the role model for countless poor children. If he were to fall here, then it’d bring others despair.
Were poor people unable to win?
Fang Hong nodded and was about to say something when a large stretch of brilliant golden glow appeared from below. Thereafter, a stream of gold brushed across the air like a shooting star, heading straight for the mountain top that was covered by the clouds.
“This…”
Fang Hong was stunned. “He became a saint?”
She immediately looked toward Sun Mo, stunned. “You… You helped a secondary saint become a saint.” “It’s Saint Du who has gained enlightenment by himself!”
Sun Mo didn’t claim the credit for himself.
“This is the Saint Hall. Under everyone’s eyes, if Saint Du doesn’t admit to this favor, he’ll be spurned by everyone.”
Fang Hong was envious. Du Changgong would be Sun Mo’s natural ally in the future. “Why aren’t you agitated?”
Sun Mo shrugged. (It’s because I have helped a secondary saint to become a saint in the past.)
(Hmm?)
(Hold on?)
(There should have been one, right?)
(But why don’t I remember that secondary saint’s name?)
“Sun Mo, do you see that? The first place is mine!”
Looking down from the platform at the end of the steps, Secondary Saint Zhou laughed loudly. (I’ve won this round.)
Just as Secondary Saint Zhou was about to continue on and get first place, a stream of light shot up from behind him at an extremely great speed.
Swoosh!
The golden light landed on the platform and revealed Du Changgong’s figure!
“What happened?”
Secondary Saint Zhou was stunned. His first reaction was that Du Changgong had cheated. But he soon sensed a tremendous saint might coming from Du Changgong!
This guy had become a saint?
In that instant, Secondary Saint Zhou’s heart was filled to the brim with jealousy!
[1] 1 cycle referring to the zodiac cycle i.e. 12 years.
[2] Poetry by Tang poet Li Bai. Translation extracted from: https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2011/01 /11/082/